Wednesday, February 18, 1998Last modified at 1:28 a.m. on Wednesday, February 18, 1998

Trial begins in military school throat-slashing case

BROWNSVILLE (AP) - A teen-age military school student snuck a sleeping classmate's room and slashed his throat because of a grudge, prosecutors said Tuesday as the student went on trial for attempted murder.

In opening statements, prosecutors promised to present an eyewitness to the alleged attack: a student who says he stood watch as Jeremiah George Jensen, 17, committed the crime.

Jensen, of Vancouver, Wash., is charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault in the Oct. 6, 1997, attack of Gabriel Cortez, 18, at the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen.

Jensen's roommate, Christopher Lee Boze, 17, of nearby Rancho Viejo, is accused of taking part in the attack but has agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for his testimony.

But defense attorney Rudy X. Rodriguez argued that Jensen was asleep when the attack occurred and that Boze acted alone.

If convicted, Jensen could receive probation or up to 20 years in prison on each charge. Both he and Boze have been suspended from the private boarding school, which instructs about 450 students in grades eight through 12.